544 



NATURE 



[January i6, 19 13 



part of the spectrum. We ascertained the point of 

 extinction and the point of reappearance of light from 

 all parfi of the spectrum. F. W. Edridge-Green. 

 London, December 25, 1912. 



The late Mr. Leigh Smith and Novaya Zetnlya. 



May I be allowed to point out to j'ou that there is 

 an omission in the short notice your publication quoted 

 from The Times on the death of Mr. Leigh Smith? 



Your countryman was found and rescued on the 

 west coast of Novaya Zemlya, near the mouth of 

 Matotschkin Sharr, by Captain J. Dalen, Dutch 

 R.N., who was in command of the Dutch exploration 

 vessel, Willem Barents. Sir Allan Young, in the 

 Hope, was near, but Leigli Smith and his men did 

 not know it when they were found and directed to 

 the English ship by the Dutchmen. This occurred 

 on August 3, 1882. 



Next year, when tlie Willem Barents again left for 

 exploration work in northern waters, Sir Clements 

 Markham and Mr. Leigh Smith came over to Amster- 

 dam and presented two fine silver cups to the presi- 

 dent of the Dutch Committee for Polar Research Work 

 in Icind remembrance of his being seen and brought 

 to safetv by Captain Dalen and his crew. 



This act of courtesy by Mr. Leigh Smith was much 

 appreciated bv our covmtrvmen. 



W. H. R. V. Manen. 



Rotterdam, January 10. 



COUNTRIES AND CUSTOMS.'^ 

 (i) "T^HE jealousy of the State Government 

 J- renders Nepal perhaps the least-known 

 country in the Empire among those with which 

 w€ maintain friendly relations. To a student of 

 art like the writer it is peculiarly interesting-, 

 because it forms a link between India and Tibet. 

 Mr. Brown was allowed some liberty in visiting 

 the sacred sites in the valley ; but if he secured 

 any new information on geography or politics 

 he has not disclosed it. On the subject of Newar 

 art he gives us some valuable facts and impres- 

 sions. The Gorkhas, now the ruling caste, have 

 contributed little to the art treasures of the 

 country, and the art of the Newars represents a 

 Tibetan substratum largely influenced from India. 

 But it is the India of the Middle Ages, not that 

 of the present day, when the people have come 

 under foreign control, Mohammedan or British. 

 The book is provided with many fine photographs, 

 and a few sketches in colour to illustrate Newar 

 architecture and work in metal, stone and wood. 

 The author traces with skill the varied influences 

 which have contributed to establish the Nepalese 

 art school, and he gives some interesting facts, 

 partlv in corroboration, partly in extension, of 

 tliose admirable essays on local religion and custom 

 for which we are indebted to the late Dr. H. A. 

 Oldfield. The pleasant, unaffected style in which 

 these notes are recorded makes them more valu- 



.1 (i) '* Picturesque Nepal." By Percy Brown. Pp. xvi 4-205. (London: 

 A .-ind r. Black, roi2.) Price ys. 6,/ net. 



(2) " Papua or British New Guinea." By J. H. P. Murray. With an 

 Introduction by Sir William M.acGregor, G.C.M.G., C.B. Pp. 388 + 

 plates+map. (London : T. Fi«her Unwin, IQ12 ) Price 151. net. 



U) "Through Shen-Kan. The Account of the Clark Expedition in North 

 China, 1008-9." By Robert Sterling Clark and Arthur de C. .Sowerby. 

 Edited by Major C. H. Chepmell. Pp. viii+247-1-64 plates-1-2 maps, 

 (f.on 'on : T. Fisher Unwin, 1012.) Price 25J. net. 



able than those which usually accompany books 

 the claim of which to support lies in the illustra- 

 tions alone. 



(2) Our knowledge of Papua is rapidly increas- 

 ing. Mr. R. Williamson's book on the Mafulu 

 Mountain People, the work of an explorer and 

 expert in ethnology and law, has been soon fol- 

 lowed by the present work, which is of quite a 

 different class. Mr. Murray admits his lack of 

 scientific knowledge in ethnology, geology, botany, 

 and indeed in any other branch of science; but he 

 enjoys the advantage of long experience of the 

 country, and Sir W. MacGregor assures us that 

 "he has had opportunities of seeing into the heart 

 of things in New Guinea in a way that no previous 

 writer could ever lay claim to." This opinion is 

 justified by the study of his book. He begins with 

 a careful geographical account of the British pro- 

 vince, followed by a history of the island from 

 the age of the first explorers, an exhaustive 

 account of the native tribes, of the methods under 

 which the Australian officers administer justice, 

 and of the progress in developing the resources of 

 the country. The book is provided with a fairly 

 adequate map and a good series of photographs. 



In an interesting introduction, Sir W. Mac- 

 Gregor describes the task which lay before the 

 new officials, the establishment of a land system, 

 criminal and civil legislation. He concludes that 

 "the two finest and best institutions I left in New 

 Guinea were the constabulary and village police, 

 and the missions." The book is almost purely 

 ethnographical. The Papuo-Melanesians, he 

 thinks, were the result of more than one immi- 

 gration ; but he declines to dogmatise on the 

 origin and affinities of the Papuans. Students of 

 cannibalism will find full details of the custom in 

 a repulsive form. Most interesting, and full of 

 instruction to other administrators whose lot lies 

 among savage peoples, is the account of the 

 methods by which the natives are being gradually 

 civilised, and how a system of law, adopting all 

 that is useful among the indigenous institutions, 

 has been introduced. The book may be safely 

 recommended as an instructive account of some 

 of the wildest races in the Empire. 



(3) The fine volume which describes this attempt 

 to explore North China is, to some extent, the 

 recorci of a failure. In the expedition organised 

 and financed by Mr. R. S. Clark, of New York, it 

 was proposed to start from T'ai-yuan Fu, in 

 Shansi, and after traversing Shen-Kan, i.e., the 

 provinces of Shansi and Kansu, to skirt the 

 Tibetan border to Ching-tu Fu, in Schuch'uan; 

 then to descend the Min River to Sui-fu or Hsu- 

 chou Fu, and return to Shanghai via the Yang-tzu. 

 Its primary objects were — a careful plane-table 

 survey of the whole route followed, astronomical 

 observations for latitude and longitude at all im- 

 portant towns, to observe the meteorological con- 

 ditions, to collect specimens, and to use photo- 

 graphy in various ways. The work of the survey 

 was placed in charge of a Punjabi surveyor, 

 Hazrat Ali ; Captain Douglas, V.C, D.S.O., of 

 the Royal .^rmy Medical Staff, was alloweH by the 



NO. 2255, VOL. go] 



